Now you can also access Portland library

Wednesday

Feb 27, 2008 at 2:00 AM

Robert Waldman

York Public Library is now a "PAL" — of the Portland Public Library!

This partnership enables us to issue Portland Public Library cards to York residents. While York patrons currently can search and request PPL's holdings through the interlibrary loan system, a Portland Public Library card gives you access to several exciting electronic resources not available through MARVEL. These resources include genealogy information from HeritageQuest and Ancestry Plus (this database available onsite only), Pimsleur downloadable language courses, thousands of downloadable audiobooks from NetLibrary, and auto repair databases.

Access to these databases is free to anyone with a valid Portland Public Library.

Information about it can be found at Portland Public Library's website www.portlandlibrary.com/research/online In addition, a PPL card will enable you to borrow materials at any of Portland Public Library's branches.

To find out how to get a PPL card at the York Library, drop by the circulation desk, or call 363-2818.

A two-week Book Discussion Group finishes up this afternoon from 3 to 4 p.m. Join Linda Hirst, pastor at First Parish Church, on these two Wednesdays to discuss "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy." The book is appropriated for children fifth grade age and older. Themes of injustice, racism and more will certainly make for lively discussions. Call the library to reserve a space in the group.

n February Writers' Night, at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 29. Included this month are Harvard Sitkoff, author of a new biography on Martin Luther King, Lewis Robinson, author of "Officer Friendly and Other Stories," Martin Steingesser, Portland's first Poet Laureate, and Dorothy Stephens, author of "Kwa Heri Means Goodbye," a memoir chronicling the two years she spent in Kenya during its last tumultuous days as a British colony in the late 1950s.

n "Eyes on the Prize" to be shown on Wednesdays and Thursdays during February, Black History Month. The library will be showing all 14 episodes of this PBS production, which traces the civil rights movement from the landmark Brown v. The Board of Education case in 1954 to 1985. Each of the two-hour showings will begin at noon:

Wednesday, Feb. 27: Episode 13: "The keys to the kingdom" (1974-1980) and Episode 14: "Back to the movement" (1979-1985)

AFTER SCHOOL IS COOL

A Special Edition of After School is Cool: Collecting and Collections. Thursday, Feb. 28, 4-5 p.m. Do you have a collection you would like to share? Do you have lots of Red Sox memorabilia? Buckets of seashells? Bring them into the library for all to see. Or come in and check out what everyone else likes to collect and get some ideas for your own collection.

IN MARCH

Rock My Soul Concert, a York Reads event, will be Saturday, March 1, at 7 p.m. at the First Parish Church. Admission is $10/adults, $3/students. Earl Bradley's photographs will be on display in the Library through March 14. Tourism in the Yorks, in the 20th century through today, will be held at noon Wednesday, March 5. This will be a brown bag discussion and display of memorabilia and pictures of York Beach in the good old days. A lively and informative panel will share tourism in York "the way life used to be." This is a York Reads event. Navigating Through Autism with Wells author Karen Crystal, mother of an autistic child, will speak at noon Saturday, March 8, about the book she has written "Navigating Through Autism." Library Concert for a Winter Afternoon — Take 3 is from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday March 16. This afternoon features The Nerve, a rock quartet featuring original rock 'n' roll. Inspiration comes from the Beatles, Elvis, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, The Band, and the Berlin Philharmonic. Members of the rock quartet, reportedly living in and around Kennebunk and York, are Byon Yeatts, Scott Stevens, Dana Pearson and Doug Dickey. Whale Watching in New England will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 11. Scott Mercer, founder of New England Whale Watch, will share his whale stories and provide insight as to how federal, state and local regulations affect commercial whale watching, and marine life. He began whale watching in 1978. Since then the industry has grown tremendously. A York Reads! event. The film "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" will be shown at 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, will be shown on this early-release school day. It is based on Roald Dahl's classic book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." This is a drop-in event and designed for anyone who is a lover of good candy! Winter Film Festival will feature "Closely Watched Trains" (Czech - 1966) at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 9. This comic/tragic film, set during the years of Germany's occupation of Czechoslovakia, is admired today out of nostalgia, but also holds up as a wry satire from the years of the Czech New Wave. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1967. In Czech with English subtitles. Andy Walsh of Maine Coast Heritage Trust will present information on Malaga's Island's natural resources at noon Thursday, March 13. He will be joined by Professor Nate Hamilton, professor of Anthropology at the University of Southern Maine and who led field studies on Malaga Island. They will present the archeological findings and historical background. A York Reads! event. Baseball and American Society: A Journey program will be offered at noon, Friday, March 14. Since 1996 the University of Southern Maine has offered a travel-based course that explores the game of baseball and its relationship to American society. Professor Mike Brady will speak about how the program began, what it tries to accomplish, and in what ways it has been a unique educational experience. A York Reads! event. "Meeting the needs of the Community" — Social Services in York: a Panel Discussion, kicks off at noon Tuesday, March 18. This will be an opportunity to learn and discuss how York takes care of those in need, from health care to housing, to heating and other issues. How do we measure up? A York Reads! event.

PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN

n Infant Lapsit, Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m., join Miss Kathleen for stories, finger plays, songs, and rhymes designed to appeal to children from infants to two year olds.

n Preschool Story Times on Thursdays and Fridays at 10:30 a.m. Thursday story times are geared for slightly older preschoolers than Friday story times. Siblings are always welcome to come to either session. Story hours feature stories, songs, fingerplays, crafts, and visits from special puppets.

n Making Music Monthly (ages 2-6). The first Wednesday of each month from 10:15 to 10:45 a.m. This parent-child class lead by Michelle Franey focuses on developing musical skills and social skills, with emphasis on moving to the beat and learning traditional children's songs.

n Art by the Pond (ages 3-5). The third Tuesday of each month, from 10:15 to 11 a.m. Jill Burke and Sharon Trafton design projects that explore art as a process. Wear play clothes!

n After School is Cool (elementary school age). The second Wednesday of the month from 4-5 p.m. Led by Martha Donnell, local knitter and landscaper, this series runs from November to April. Join us to learn knitting, to explore building with Legos, and other activities.

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